SEATTLE - It seems every day we get another read on the volatile housing industry across the country and it's no different here in the Puget Sound region. It could take some time for us to make it out of the woods.
Amy Bohutinsky, VP of Marketing and Communications for Zillow.com says as far as the recovery goes, the Northwest has been about a year behind the rest of the country.
"For us, home prices peaked in the middle of 2007, in California they peaked in 2005, and across the country in 2006," she said. "So we were late on the way down, which means we're going to be a little bit later to stabilize home prices."
Bohutinsky says sales are up, but home values are still going down. She says the problem is that there is so much excess inventory.
"There are more foreclosures adding to this and so home sales are up, which is good in recent months, but they're still not up enough to clear out that glut of unsold inventory," she said. "Until we start to clear that out we're still going to see home values decline throughout much of this year."
Bohutinsky says year-over-year declines show Seattle down 11.5 percent, King County down 9.6 percent, Pierce County down 7.9 percent and Snohomish County down 13.3 percent.
Bohutinsky says some of the best performance in the region was in the cities on the Eastside, such as Sammamish, Yarrow Point and Mercer Island.
Southern King County has been hit the hardest. Tukwila and SeaTac had a more than 20 percent decline.
In the Seattle area, the top performing areas include Laurelhurst, Portage Bay and Eastlake.
Bohutinsky said in this market, there are a few simple things to consider.
If you're a homeowner it really only matters to you if you're going to move right now or you need to refinance.
If you're a buyer it means homes are more affordable than they've been in many years, coupled with low mortgage rates, it can be a great time to buy, she said.
"If you're a seller, you just need to get realistic about prices," she said. "The more aggressively you price, the faster you're going to sell and if you price too high your home's just going to sit on the market."
Bohutinsky said the good news is that home sales are up.
"They need to be up more for stabilization but any time we see a number go up in this housing market that's certainly good. It means we're heading in the right direction. We're just not there yet," she said.
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